


The First Moment Of The Fall

by tielan



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friendship, Gen, UST, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-07
Updated: 2011-06-07
Packaged: 2017-10-20 05:23:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/209205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/pseuds/tielan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fred ventures out of her safe space.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Moment Of The Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written in January 2007.

A noise in the doorway caused Wesley to look up.

An smile slid onto his lips, unbidden, at the slender, fragile figure in the door. “Fred.”

She was standing in the doorway, hesitant, as though bearding a lion in his den. “I...I’m not bothering you, am I, Wesley? I mean, it’s pretty late, and I know you’re probably researching something important...”

“No! No,” he added. “Nothing important.” Nothing that he’d ignore her for. Abruptly recalling himself and his manners, he stood up. “Sit down - I’ll just clear off a chair...” He hurried around the desk to remove some scrolls from a chair and, glancing at them, filed them in one of the bookshelf nooks. “So, what brings you to my office and the fascinating world of demon research?”

“Oh, nothing.” she gave a little shrug, half-embarrassed, half-shy as she perched on the chair. “I was just... I mean, I just wondered if... That is... Angel said that you were often busy. But I thought you might want some help. To research. Stuff about demons. I mean I’m better at physics - that’s what I’ve always done - but I...I don’t really know much about defending myself the way Angel or Charles seem to, and I thought that if I read some stuff about demons, I’d know where to start.”

Wesley felt something in him warm at the rambling follow-on speech, so sweetly delivered. Fred had incarcerated herself in her room upon her arrival back on Earth, and it had taken a lot of effort and energy for the team to coax her out for even a little while.

And yet, here she was, offering to help with research, looking almost as though she expected Wes to sneer at her, or tell her to go back to her room.

 _Gently,_ he told himself. _Like a wild creature, I suppose._

He got out a basic compendium of demonology - Scragg’s Demonology, which every would-be Watcher was required to read through, learn, and memorise at age eight. “Have a read through there for the moment - I recommend the sections on vampires and the more common demons. There’s a list of them in the opening chapter. It might be a little confusing at first, but it’s the easiest place to begin.”

As she opened the book up with the kind of care that made a Watcher’s bookish heart sing, Wesley felt another wave of warmth uncurl in his chest.

He wouldn’t know it until later, but that was the moment when he first began falling in love.


End file.
